Soriano's two-run homer lifts Cubs over Brewers

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04/11/2009 - Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alfonso Soriano hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning and the Chicago Cubs held on to edge the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-5, in the second of a three-game series at Miller Park.

Soriano finished 2-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored, while Kosuke Fukudome had a solo homer, double and two RBI for the Cubs, who dropped a 6-5 decision in the series opener. Aramis Ramirez added a solo shot in the win.

Carlos Zambrano started and pitched to a no-decision for the Cubs. The big right-hander allowed three runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts and three walks over six innings. Aaron Heilman (1-0) earned the win after going 1 2/3 innings without giving up a run and striking out three. Carlos Marmol notched his first save of the year.

Prince Fielder hit a two-run homer and J.J. Hardy knocked in a pair for Milwaukee, which lost three of four to start the season.

Dave Bush started and went 6 1/3 innings, giving up three runs on six hits with five strikeouts. Carlos Villanueva (1-1) was tagged with the loss after giving up two runs on as many hits in the ninth inning.

With the game deadlocked at 3-3 after 6 1/2 innings, Milwaukee put two on the board in the bottom of the seventh. Angel Guzman started the inning for the Cubs and retired the first batter before issuing back-to-back walks to Corey Hart and Ryan Braun. Neal Cotts replaced Guzman and the lefty promptly issued a free pass to Fielder before being lifted for Heilman.

Hardy then stepped in and laced a two RBI single up the middle, putting the Brewers in front 5-3. Mike Cameron followed by striking out and in the process, Fielder got tagged out while trying to advance to third when the ball got away from Cubs catcher Koyie Hill.

Ramirez's solo homer to left in the eighth got the Cubs to within a run. Then in the ninth pinch hitter Reed Johnson reached on a one-out single and Soriano jumped on a first-pitch changeup from Joey Gathright and hammered it over the left-field wall to put the Cubs in front 6-5.

In the bottom of the ninth, Marmol came on and gave up a one-out base hit to Hart, but recovered to strikeout Braun and Fielder to end the game.

Fielder gave the Brewers a 2-0 lead in the third when the burly slugger belted a 1-2 fastball over the right-field fence, scoring Hart, who singled.

Fukudome's solo blast in the top of the fourth got the Cubs to within a run, but Milwaukee regained a two-run lead in the home half when Rickie Weeks' RBI single brought home Bill Hall.

The Cubs made it a 3-2 game in the top of the sixth when Fukudome hit a double down the right-field line that plated Soriano, who led off the frame with a two-base hit.

Chicago knotted things in the top of the seventh on Soriano's run-scoring fielders' choice.

Game Notes

Chicago won nine of its 16 meetings with the Brewers last season, including five of the seven matchups held in Milwaukee.

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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.

No. 1 always seems to fit USC.

Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.

Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.

Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.

"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."

The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.

"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"

USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.

"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."

While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.

But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.

Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.

The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.

The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.

The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.

No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.

Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.

Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.

The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.

South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.

The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.

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